


Never Too Late

by quirkyfawx



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Destroy Ending, F/M, Masturbation, Post-Reaper War, Smut, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:01:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28560237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quirkyfawx/pseuds/quirkyfawx
Summary: The Reaper War has been over and won 7 years now. But things are still not settling in the galaxy.  The Alliance is becoming more power mad and shady. Someone is murdering quarian officials. The little peace that had been achieved is starting to fall apart. The only person who can make things right and answer many questions is Raylin, AKA Ray, Shepard.After the defeat of the reapers, Ray Shepard disappeared from her hospital room never to be found, until now. Nihlus, who had survived his encounter with Saren, is tasked with bringing her back.But does she want to come back is the problem.
Relationships: Bray/Female Shepard (Mass Effect), Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian, Nihlus Kryik/Female Shepard, Nihlus Kryik/Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian, Past Garrus/Tali
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another 'after the war' fic. I have too many of those in my head and this one's been bugging me.  
> A New Dawn is also still being worked on. I'm hoping to have a new chapter up soon. But in the meantime, enjoy!

Nothing was right about the Citadel anymore. 

Nihlus Kryik sighed as he crossed the Presidium. 

This was not the Citadel he knew and loved.

Nihlus stopped at the bridge he was crossing to look at the water. 

They had done their best to repair all the damage from the Reaper War and get things as close to the original Citadel as they could. Most even said it felt the same. But Nihlus disagreed. Despite some things being obviously different, like the geth that replaced the keepers, it all looked the same. But he felt the differences. Once upon a time, this was home for him. But now....

Nihlus shook his head and made it way to the Embassy. He'd be late for his meeting if he didn't get a move on.

The Embassy was already busy for the day. Various races busting around. Not much was different in that except more quarians and geth. Sadly, he didn't know many people there anymore. Very few of his fellow Spectre had survived the war. some of them chose early retirement shortly after. And even more had retired after the reformed Council started adding rules to the Spectres job. It used to be that Spectres were allowed what needed to be done no matter what. They had access to the best armor and equipment and could do what was needed as long as they got the job done.

But shortly after the Reaper War when things settled, the mass relays were restored, and the Council was starting to reform, there was an outcry when it came to Spectres. People cried that Spectres were loose cannons (that primarily came from the humans) who were more destructive than helpful. Too many of them played by their own rules, taking no responsibility. And for that, too many innocent bystanders paid the price of their actions. In order to remedy that, they created the role of a Spectre Executor to oversee them. 

Nihlus could understand the reasoning and need for that. While he knew he crossed the line sometimes in his previous assignments, he liked to think that he performed his job honestly. Though, he had seen too many other Spectres who gave into corruption. He also knew it was the overall fear of another Spectre winding up like Saren. Many seasoned Spectres balked at the idea answering to someone other than a Council member and chose to leave the job.

And Saren.....

Nihlus shook his head. It was best not to think of his former mentor and friend. He still was not ready to deal with that.

Nihlus sped up his pace and made his way to the elevators. At least one improvement they managed on the Citadel were faster elevators. He made it to the Spectre Executors office with a couple of minutes to spare. 

"I have a meeting with the Executor, Nihlus Kryik," he said as we approached an asari secretary. She looked up at him.

"He's been expecting you. Go on in." Nihlus nodded his thanks and went into the office.

The office was nice and organized. And not as sparse as he'd seen previous offices. The walls held pictures of friends and some family as well has old sniper rifles on display. He knew they were retired models that the Executor refused to throw out. The desk had been moved to the far side of the wall away from the window. 

"Agent Kryik, thank you for coming in so quickly." Nihlus moved over to stand before the desk.

"Spectre Executor Vakarian. You said it was urgent?"

Spectre Executor Garrus Vakarian sat at the desk. The top of his desk was not as tidy as his office, it was covered in data pads. He gestured at an empty chair in front of the desk. Nihlus took the invite and sat down.

"Yes. This assignment is of a delicate nature. But extremely important. Here, take a look." Garrus handed Nihlus a data pad. Nihlus looked at the info and quickly had to suppress a gasp. 

"This can't be right. Is your source sure and not mistaken?" Garrus shook his head and sighed. 

"I thought that at first, but my contact is trustworthy. It took a bit to verify, but it's her. We found her. Your assignment is to bring back Ray Shepard alive."

"It's been seven years. It seems she went to some trouble to hide that she was alive. Are you sure she'd be willing to come back here?" Nihlus asked. He looked at the images on the data pad. The person in the pictures were definitely Shepard. 

"I imagine not. But it's not her choice. Both the Council and the Alliance are waiting for her. There's too many questions still unanswered about the Reapers that she has the answers to. They want those answers whether she wants to answer or not. I know this is not ideal and that the war took a lot out of her. But it's time for her to come home."

"Home? Are you sure she'd consider this her home now?" Nihlus asked. He was still going through the pictures on the pad. "From the looks of it, she has a home there and is doing well. Even happy."

Nihlus held up the data pad. It held a picture of Shepard laughing. Garrus sighed. 

"I know. But they're going to bring her back no matter what. At least this gives her a chance to come willingly with someone she can trust. Talk to her. Convince her that this is in her best interest."

"And if she still refuses to come."

Garrus leaned back in his chair. 

"Then by force. You have your orders."

"Then I'll have my ship prepped to leave first thing in the morning." Nihlus stood and left the room. He did not bother to look back at Garrus.

******************************************************************************************************************************

Nihlus took a drink of his turian whiskey as he stared out the window of his apartment. His apartment had the perfect view of the Presidium and the other ward arms. He had just finished arranging for supplies to be sent to his ship. Dock workers were now in the process of refueling it. Tomorrow he would leave early to make sure everything was ready. 

He did not like this. 

Normally Nihlus loved his job. The only thing that made it distasteful was dealing with some of the worst scum in the universe, slavers, drug dealers, illegal arm dealers....all merchants of pain & suffering. Knowing he was taking them out of existence was the thing that made it better. But this assignment left him cold. 

He remembered Ray Shepard almost as if it was yesterday. The time he met her on the Normandy was the first time he'd met her face to face. But he had been following her longer than that. Her survival on Akuze was well known, but he truly did not notice her till one night at one of the bars he liked to go to. There he saw her defending a quarian from a group of thug wannabes. True her fighting skills were rather weak, but she made up for that with her tech skills. He felt that she had so much potential that he began to look into her. 

It was a true regret of his that he never got to train her. Saren's betrayal destroyed many of his plans. So many plans gone.

Nihlus drained the rest of his drink. He needed to stop that train of thought and get to sleep. 

He had a life to disrupt after all.


	2. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to pick up. Time to get the ball rolling

"Hey! You still open?"

Ray Shepard sighed as she tossed her towel on the table she was cleaning. The hours were obviously posted on the door. But by the sound of it the stranger was drunk. Not the first time that happened. And would not be the last time. Hopefully this drunkard would leave quiet and peacefully. Throwing out drunks was always a pain in the ass. Especially if there were more than one. Ray left the kitchen to go to the front of the bakery. She noticed in the lobby were a couple of Talon members, turians, that liked to frequent her bakery late at night. She couldn't remember their names offhand but knew they were good and would help if need be. 

At the door of the lobby was a drunk human. He had a bottle of booze in his hand and was staggering. Shepard really hoped that he didn't get sick on her lobby. That was the last thing she wanted to deal with tonight. 

"We're closed for the night. Come back tomorrow during business hours," she said while hoping the drunk would leave without a fuss. She was tired and it had been a long day. 

"C'mon...I just want some food."

"Look. As I said, we're closed. I have no food to sell. Leave." Ray noticed the two Talon members stood up as if expecting trouble. The drunkard looked as if he was about to start arguing when the door behind him opened and a hand gripped his shoulder. The hand then yanked the drunkard back to reveal a batarian behind him.

"She said she was closed, human. Now get out of here," he said while shoving the human out the door. Shepard mentally sighed a sigh of relief. She was glad it had not escalated to anything major. 

The batarian newcomer gave the Talon members a nod and moved to where Ray was by the counter. "You about done?"

"Yeah, Bray. Got a couple of things to do and we can go. Hey, guys. Hold up!" she called out to the two turians getting ready to head out. She quickly went to the kitchen and returned a moment later with two boxes. 

"Here. The blue one's the dextro pastries," she said while handing one of the turians the boxes. 

"Thanks. Everyone will appreciate this," he said before heading out the door with his friend. Both Shepard and Bray watched the Talon members leave. Bray turned to look at her.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, just a couple of things left and we can head out. Maybe another ten minutes?"

****************************************************************************************

"That was the most cheesiest movie yet," Ray said finishing off her beer. Bray huffed.

"How'd I know it was going to be that bad? Blasto's never let down," he defended. Ray shook her head. Bray really had no taste in movies. But she also was kinda jaded when it came to Blasto movies in general. Especially having met the hanar.

"Maybe it's time for Blasto to retire," she suggested. Shepard placed the empty bottle on her coffee table and slouched back on the couch. 

"Don't speak such nonsense," Bray chastised. She noticed he placed his now empty bottle on the table as well and moved closer to her. He put his his on her stomach and started tugging at her shirt. "Instead, just help me forget that atrocity."

Bray pulled up her shirt, tugged one of the bra cups down. Any responses she had were instantly lost when she felt his lips clamp around her nipple.

********************************************************************************************

It was some hours later that found Ray Shepard awake. She laid in bed, starting at the ceiling. Next to her, Bray was deeply asleep. Yeah, she was jealous of that. Anytime they, well, fucked, that was the best term to use, Bray always went to sleep immediately after. Shepard, on the other hand, always felt more awake and pent up. Sick of staring at the ceiling, she quietly slipped out of bed. She then threw on some panties and an oversized shirt and made her way to the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of whiskey.

She leaned against the counter as she looked out the small kitchen window. The view on Omega was still the same dark one with many neon lights. When she really thought about it, the Omega view was not that much different than her window view was on the Citadel. Still, she was not sure if she'd ever love it as much as Aria loved it. It had been seven years since she came here, and despite part of that being in recovery, she still was not that used to Omega. Sure, the Talons made their area much nicer compared to the rest, but still. 

But where was home?

After the slavers destroyed her home on Mindoir, she never felt if there was a home. Her aunt and uncle made her home life a nightmare until they kicked her out, and the only reason she stuck with military and moved her way up in it was for the money she was saving. And while the Normandy has some comfort when she was working with Cerberus it was not really hers. Especially after how the Alliance quickly confiscated it for themselves when she turned herself in for the Bahak incident. An incident the Alliance blamed her all the way and did their best to keep their hands clean. 

Shepard gripped the glass harder. The Alliance was still a sour point with her. She doubted if she'd ever be able to forgive and trust them again.

"Still having trouble sleeping?" A hand took the glass of whiskey she held. Shepard turned and saw Bray behind her taking a drink of her whiskey. Damn, she had not expected him to wake. 

"You could say that," she answered while hoping he wouldn't pry. They had a nice friendship with some extra benefits. She wanted to keep it that way. Bray shook his head and set the glass on the counter. He stood there in the nude. 

"Well, let's see if I can help you settle back and fall asleep." He moved forward and grabbed her hips, pulling her closer to him. Shepard put her arms on his shoulders, mentally relieved he wasn't pressing her to talk. 

"Not a bad idea."

******************************************************************************************************

"Garrus! There you are! Wait up!"

Garrus stopped in his tracks when he heard his name. He sighed, easily recognizing the voice. He turned around mentally wishing he had stayed in the Spectre room a bit longer to avoid this. 

"Counselor. Good to see you. Need something?" The Counselor he addressed was Tali. She still wore her suit. Despite the improvements in their immune systems on Rannoch, quarians still had to wear body suits off planet. Only instead of her scarves she'd wear, she had replaced those with a richly made robe. 

"Garrus, how many times have I told you you can still call me by my name. You don't need to be so formal all the time," she said. Even with the dark helmet cover, he knew she was glaring at him.

"You're right, Tali. Sorry. What do you need?" he asked even though he already knew what she was going to ask him about. 

You heard about Nethen's death, right? Someone murdered him right in his own home."

"I have," Garrus answered already knowing where this was headed. "And C-sec is handling it."

"But you know this is bigger than C-sec," Tali started to protest but stopped when Garrus help up his hand, shaking his head. He really did not want to argue this. Especially in the halls of the embassy. 

"Not here." He pointed to a vacated office. "Let's talk about it in there."

As soon as the door shut Tali started talking again.

"Another high ranking quarian is dead, Garrus! C-sec still has no leads or anything. You need to have a Spectre investigate this!"

Garrus sighed. He could feel the start of a headache. "Look. I understand this is horrible. But those deaths were businessmen. It's not a Council matter."

"But they had connections with Council members. They're not just random deaths," she countered. Garrus sighed again. He knew she would not let this go. 

"Fine. I can have an agent look into this and see if it's worth them pursuing. I'll send Jondum Bau." 

"Him? Why not Nihlus? Nihlus is a good Spectre."

"Nihlus is on a mission right now. Jondum is a good Spectre. Take it or leave it." Garrus crossed his arms. Tali looked as if contemplating the option. Times were different now. Spectres couldn't be used for any little crime anymore. Her shoulders sagged.

"Fine. Hopefully he'll see that I'm right," she reluctantly agreed. Without another word, she left the office. 

Garrus waited a few minutes later to leave the office with the hopes of making it to his in peace. He still had a pile of paperwork to catch up on as well as communicating to Nihlus. Plus he still had Spectre reports to go over as well as budgets. Spirits, why did he ever accept this job?

He arrived at his office several minutes later, thankfully unbothered. He saw that his secretary was gone but waiting by her desk was someone from the past.

"Kaidan. It's been some time, " Garrus greeted him. 

"You as well," Kaidan replied back. Garrus looked at the human. Kaidan stood there in his Alliance uniform. Once the second human Spectre now simply with the Alliance. Among many of the new rules in place for the Spectres, one of the requirements was that when becoming a Spectre, the agent could no longer be part of any military organization from their species. After dealing with Shepard, they felt there were too many conflicts of interests. When given the choice, Kaidan chose to stay with the Alliance. 

The way Kaidan stood, his posture, Garrus gathered this was not a simple social visit. 

"I take it you're not here to talk about old times, huh?" Kaidan shook his head.

"Sorry, but I'm here on Alliance business. Can we talk in your office?"

Garrus nodded and opened the office gesturing for Kaidan to go in first. He then made his way to his desk and resisted snarling at the many data pads scattered on it. He looked up as Kaidan took one of the seats in front of his desk.

"What can I help you with?" 

"You know why I'm here, Garrus."

Garrus sat back in his seat. He feared this day would happen. "And why is that?"

"Don't play ignorant here. We know you found Shepard." Damn, he had hoped he had more time before the Alliance confronted him about it. True, both the Council and the Alliance wanted her back. While they both had questions for her, they both had different agendas. While Nihlus had objected to being the one to retrieve her, it was honestly the best option for her. If the Alliance got ahold of her....

"And you know this for a fact?" Kaidan nodded. 

"We have our sources. And we're already sending agents to investigate. It'd be in the spirit of cooperation if the Council would agree to work with us on this. It's in the best interest for Shepard."

"Best interest for Shepard? That's a load of lies. I believe Shepard would have called it 'bunch of bullshit'?" Garrus retorted. "The Alliance wants her arrested and tried as a criminal. Do you agree with that?"

"Look, it's doesn't matter what I agree or believe about Shepard. I have my orders to bring her in. It's out of my hands. I'm here as a friend and ally asking the Council to comply with us on this," he answered. 

"Dammit, Kaidan. This is Udina all over again! She was your friend. And how many times did she prove she was right about everything? And this is how you want to repay her!" Garrus stood up from his seat and started pacing back and forth behind his desk. He was getting quickly irritated at the human in front of him. How many times did Shepard go out of her way to save everyone, jump hoops to do favors for them only to constantly be accused of the worse? And now, here, Kaidan Alenko, sat before him. Content in not defending her. 

"Look, it's not personal. But orders are orders. I came here to ask a friend to help me out. I see I was wrong," Kaidan said, standing up. "Just know, we will find her and bring her in. With or without your help."

And with that, Kaidan left the room. 

Garrus dropped back down to his seat. Spirits, this was not good. He typed an encrypted message on his omnitool and sent it Nihlus. The Spectre was running out of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always viewed Bray as having a fanboy crush on Shepard after the Omega dlc. 
> 
> This fic will have smut for it soon, but felt it not really needed with Bray. I may write a separate fic for this with the missing Shep/Bray scene if anyone's interested.
> 
> I'm in the middle of the next chapter of A New Dawn. That one's just coming slower.


	3. Pondering and Watching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally moving forward and more is revealed in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this will help start explaining things a bit better. 
> 
> Disclaimer: This chapter has smut towards the end of it. You have been warned.

"I've looked over the files for the case. I must say it is suspicious. I'll present my notes and thoughts tomorrow."

"I'll see you then," Garrus said as he entered his apartment. He had just left his office for the day when Jondum Bau contacted him about Nethen's, death. Garrus prayed to the Spirits with the hopes this was just a random death and not part of anything major. He knew the upcoming days with them bringing Shepard back were going to be bad enough alone.

After resetting his alarms in the apartment, Garrus quickly made his way to his room to change out of his work armor into some casual wear. He settled for a baggy shirt that hung off his cowl and a pair of loose slacks that cut open by his spurs. He then made his way to his home office already dreading the amount of missed messages and emails probably waiting for him. Before sitting at his desk, Garrus grabbed a glass of turian brandy at the small bar he kept in the office. He had a feeling he'd need a few of these tonight. 

He easily sorted the junk emails, work emails, and personal ones. With the junk ones gone, there were only a few left. One was a message from his father. Garrus groaned. He'd read it later, he was not in the mood to deal with his father. A couple of the emails were just things involving the Council, nothing major with them. The one that caught his eye though was one from Nihlus. He opened it. 

^^This vacation you made me take is not idea. The location is horrid. I'll be reporting back to the office soon. I'll bring back a souvenir.^^

Garrus knew that was Nihlus's way of code. Nihlus had left for Omega almost a week ago. From his email, it meant that'd he'd located Shepard and was planning on bringing her back very soon. Garrus drained his glass and went to refill it. 

Bringing in Shepard was both a good and many bad things. The Council and the Alliance both had their reasons for doing so. After the war, it was a long, hard road to recovery for so many species. Thanks to the salarians avoidance in a lot of the war, they were more equipped to help in the rebuilding. True the galaxy would never be back to what it was before the Reapers, ti was a lot closer now. But there were so many questions that needed answers. Many felt that Shepard had and owed them those answers. 

After the Reapers were destroyed there was a mad rush to start salvaging what they could for the Citadel. The Citadel was a major location for all the species, they could not just simply scrap it. In doing so, they had found the badly damaged body of Shepard. It was some sort of miracle that she was still alive. Her body was greatly bruised, burned and broken. Thanks to the quarians help, they had kept her in a isolated, sterile room for the first six months of her recovery, in which she was in a coma. Only a handle of medical experts and doctors were allowed in. Even when the skin grafts took hold and her broken bones started healing and they were clear of any infections setting in, they still only allowed select people to work with her. They allowed no visitors. 

Not that he had been able to visit her if they had allowed it. During that time, he was still on the Normandy, trapped on some remote backwater planet, along with the rest of the Normandy crew. They had been stuck for nearly a year before they were able to get the ship limping home. And when they finally made it to Earth, that's when they discovered Shepard was gone, disappeared in the middle of the night. 

Garrus had helped the best he could during the investigation. There was a fear that whatever was left of Cerberus had gotten her. Or even someone upset, blaming her for their losses when the Reapers hit. Garrus knew from experience there were a lot of people not happy with Shepard during the war. It seemed sometimes nothing she ever did was right. Damned if you do and damned if you don't as humans like to say. 

Eventually the investigation went dead. All clues and leads went cold. They concluded that she had left of her own will with possible inside help. It was a kick to the gut for so many that she could just disappear like that, even to Garrus. Though in the back of his mind, he was not all that surprised. 

Ever since the Reapers had made themselves known, Ray Shepard had been forced the responsibility of trying to stop them. A responsibility she shouldered mostly on her own. Sure the crew did their part in the war, but they had not been with her in all the journey. They did not suffer when she was slandered by both the Council and Alliance when they chose to deny the existence of Reapers. Not all of them followed her on her suicide mission to save the human colonies and stop the Collectors. Not even him. 

Guilt still plagued him for that. When she had rescued him from his fate and helped him out on Omega, he swore that he'd always have her six and be her support. She was going through hell and he would be there to help her through it while kicking ass. Instead, he failed her. He'd abandoned her. 

He was determined to be by Shepard's side throughout the entire mission, but all that changed when Tali joined them on the SR2 Normandy. Like Shepard, he had been excited to see an old friend from the first Normandy when they heard who they'd be recruiting. He and Tali had bonded a lot during their search of Saren due to many similarities such as food and hard to please fathers. Soon after rescuing her they started a nightly ritual of talking iin the Battery, sometimes with turian wine (triple filtered for her). Eventually their close friendship became more. He started wanting more. He wanted to survive their suicide mission with her at his side. He wanted a future with Tali. When she returned those same wants he was beyond ecstatic. 

That was until the night Shepard came to him, after he had asked her help in dealing with that traitor Sidonis. He was upset that she had talked him into allowing that bastard to live, but that was what she did best. Give everyone a chance even a second chance.   
She gave him some time to deal with his emotions, which he appreciated. Tali also had helped him through as well. But he remember the night she came in the Battery....

_____________________________________________________________ 

"Do you have a minute to talk?"

Garrus turned from the control panel. For once, he was not busy with his calibrations. 

"Sure. What's on you mind, Shepard?" When he had turned to her he noticed she seemed rather nervous. To set her at ease he made the decision to talk about his time in the military. It was going fine, two friends just talking until it came to reach and flexibility. And then she suggested a tie breaker situation with him. 

"Oh! I'm sorry, Shepard, but the truth is, I'm with Tali. I thought you knew," he said. His heart almost broke at the hurt look she had before quickly masking it with a neutral one.

"I had not realized. Well, I wish the best for you two then," she said while heading to the door. "I should go."

He had tried calling out to her, but she left without hearing him.

________________________________________________________________

After that, Shepard had started throwing all her focus into the mission and everyone's help requests. And when she wasn't working she kept to herself. Eventually he'd heard Thane was starting to get close with her. That helped with his worry. Thane was a good man, perfect for Shepard. Thane had the patience and strength needed to support her. Especially after Tali's trial with the fleet. After Shepard helped clear Tali's name, both he and Tali decided to remain with the flotilla before heading to Palaven to visit his dying mother. There they stayed for her funeral and returned to the Normandy a bit after.

They had made it back to the Normandy after the crew had successfully defeated the Collectors and survived the suicide mission. When they arrived, they were informed that Shepard was on a mission for Admiral Hackett. None of the crew had any details of the mission, just that it was high priority. That set off a lot of alarms in his head. Something about that did not feel right. He was also dismayed to learn that Thane had halted any affection for Shepard. The drell had backed out, instead choosing to wait for his deceased wife in the afterlife. It had made working with the assassin very hard. Especially after Ray had returned from her mission.

Learning that she had prevented the invasion of the Reapers was a close call and a reminder they were running out of time. But the cost of delaying the Reapers.....Over 300,000 batarians lost their lives for it. As soon as it was confirmed the Bahak system had been wiped out, Shepard had gone to her room, not speaking to anyone, and no one stopped her. He figured she needed some time to process. But one day became two and then three. On the fourth day when they realized she had not left her quarters or contacted anyone they tried to reach her. With Edi's help they managed to break into her quarters. There they found the place trashed. It looked like Grunt had rampaged through it. But that was not the worst of it. They found Shepard sitting on the floor not responding to anything. She simply sat in her under suit, still stained with blood from her injuries, arms wrapped around her legs. He had helped move her down to the infirmary where Chakwas and Mordin had treated her wounds. Eventually though, it took the help of Samara to pull Shepard back to reality.

Looking back, Garrus realized that was the start of her downfall. He knew Kaidan's rejection on Horizon hurt, but she seemed to be getting past that. But he guessed his rejection along with Thanes and the Bahak system was just too much. After her debriefing with Hackett she stopped talking to anyone unless she had to or her occasional rounds. That was until she made the announcement of turning herself into the Alliance to stand trial.

Garrus sat back at his computer, his drink refilled. If Nihlus was bringing Shepard back soon, there'd be much to prepare for. He needed to set up a meeting for the Executor at C-Sec. Security would need to be upped. He knew they planned to keep her return a secret but that never stopped anyone from trying to find out. But still, if word got out, it'd be chaos. 

Garrus eyed the pictures on the wall by his desk. The ones of him and Tali were packed away in a box somewhere. After their break up, he could not get himself to throw them out. Their relationship had not ended on the best of terms and even now they struggled for their friendship. It wasn't the same as it was before. Too much resentment on both their parts. 

One picture caught his one, one he could not pack away. It was picture from the night of the party, just before the raid on the Illusive Man's base. Shepard allowed them to have a party at the apartment that Anderson gave her. The party was a wild night and the first fight between him and Tali. In the picture, Tali sat next to him on the couch. He had his arm wrapped around her. Both Traynor and Shepard also sat on the couch, Shepard in the middle. Everyone had a big smile in the picture. Everyone except Shepard. Her smile was small and looked strained.

After the picture was taken, the party started dying down. Too drunk to find their way back to the ship, they all crashed at the apartment. Shepard had quickly retreated to her room, locking herself in for the rest of the night. Garrus and Tali took the second guestroom on the top floor. Garrus had commented on his concern for Shepard. He knew the war was running her ragged but she kept getting more and more distant from everyone. The entire party, she only moved room to room, never engaging in any talk or dancing. 

Tali had still been upset with Shepard on how she handled the Rannoch situation with the geth. He knew Shepard had been frustrated with the quarians for rekindling the war with the geth. And Garrus couldn't blame her. When Shepard went back to the Alliance for her hearing he and Tali decided to go back to their people with the intentions of prepping for the Reapers. It had upset him to learn that the quarians had wasted their time provoking the geth instead of preparing for the Reapers. Tali felt that Shepard risked too much when she chose to save the geth and broker peace between them and the quarians. Garrus still stood up for Shepard for that decision which caused tension anytime it was brought up. 

Garrus finished replying to his emails and started making his dinner. He'd deal with his father on a later day. Once made, he settled for a movie while eating. He had a feeling this was going to be one of the few peaceful nights for a long while. 

********************************************************************************************

Omega was a cesspool filled with the worst scum of the universe. And the war changed very little.

Nihlus sat in his tiny, dirty hotel room in the Fumi District. The one exception of Omega. The area, while still sketchy, was tame and safe compared to the rest of the station. From what he had learned, the Talon gang kept this area safe and secure as their community. While crime and shady deals happened a lot of other crime was not tolerated in this area. Such as slavery and red sand being a couple of examples. And the Talons were not shy of making examples of those who tried those crimes in their territory. 

Still, Nihlus wanted to get his mission over. He hated Omega, he hated that he was disrupting Shepard from the life she made here. Knowing what he knew of Shepard, it was easy to track her down in the Fumi District. And after a bit digging he found that she had the protection of both the Talons and Omega's Queen, Aria. 

Nihlus had made some temporary changes to his colony marks. Since his return as a Spectre he kept a very low profile. Most didn't even know that he was still alive and when dealing with those not trusted, he gave a false identity. Even before the war, not many knew what he looked like. Another lesson from his former mentor. But even then, he still couldn't risk it on Omega. Aria was good at sniffing out Spectres in her domain. With his mission, Aria being int he dark was the best thing for him. The last thing he needed was for her to find out that he planned to take Shepard from Omega. 

Not that Shepard went by her name here. It took a bit to find out, but Nihlus was no rookie Spectre. Saren had trained him well. No, Shepard went by the name Lucy Soleil. But after some digging and scouting he easily found it was her. 

"Lucy" ran a bakery in the Fumi District that specialized in both levo and dextro pastries and bakes. The shop was very popular in the community and many Talon members frequented it. There was rarely a time when the shop was open that there wasn't a Talon member in their. 

It had been almost a week since Nihlus arrived on Omega and took only 2 days to find her. The rest of the time he spent observing. Shepard seemed to spend a lot of her time working at the bakery. The only other person who worked there was an asari. They seemed to work on a rotation in the mornings of who would come in and start the prep for the day and the other staying late to close. Nihlus had managed to get some info from her asari coworker. It seemed that every 3 days Shepard would take a day off. Then cover the next day so her coworker could have a day off. 

Nihlus took an bite of the dextro pastry he had ordered that morning. Now he was finalizing his plan to grab Shepard. Which was a shame really. Nihlus looked at the box of pastries that sat on his desk. They were really good and the district really loved her shop. From what he was able to learn she helped out by employing teens with delivery jobs and even hired some as part time bakers. 

Once he found her work schedule he was able to find her residence. On one of her days when she was at work, he managed to break into her apartment and install some surveillance cameras.The cameras were tiny and hard to detect. Something else Saren had taught him. Nihlus almost gave a sob at that lesson. It was one of the most easier lessons with the older Spectre. But it was one of the lessons that Nihlus had learned that the older Spectre more than just a ruthless agent. No, he was smart and precise. Just more straight to the point. 

Nihlus shook his head. He needed to stop thinking of his former mentor. He turned his attention back to the video of Shepard's apartment.

The apartment was small but kept tidy. There were some personal items and a bit of wall art. In one corner she kept a treadmill and a few small weights. From his observations earlier that week, she had a tendency to work out after her shift at night. Though not the same extreme workout regiment as her time as a Commander. She spent most of her time after that either reading or watching some vid. It seemed that outside of her job, she kept to herself. What surprised him the most was watching her come home one night with a batarian in tow. And not just any batarian, one of Aria's people, Bray.

Nihlus was slightly ashamed of his self that he kept watching the feed when Bray started removing their clothes. He was shocked that she'd ever let a batarian touch her, let alone sleep with one. He knew her troubled history with batarians and had discovered, not surprising, her strong dislike of them. Nihlus had watched the coupling but mainly his focus was on Shepard. 

She had changed from the woman he met that many years ago. When he first met her, she was harder with blond hair pulled back in a bun. Now, she looked softer. He knew she had muscles when he saw her in her civvies.She didn't have the muscles anymore but was still toned. her waist was still attractive, especially with it being thin and those hips... He wasn't sure if it was just his imagining but her breasts seemed bigger than before, not that he had ever seen them. Her hair was long now, down to her waist and purple. 

After watching that feed and hearing her sounds of pleasure, Nihlus had quickly found himself in the shower and pumping hard into his hand. 

Fuck! Nihlus jumped out of his chair and started pacing the small room. He needed to stop thinking about that. Using Shepard for his self pleasure fantasies was beyond disrespectful. He admired the former Commander. He even had entertained getting to know her better if she had proven a worthy Spectre candidate. Obviously that never happened and he had a feeling that Shepard was not going to be very happy with him soon.

From his observations, he knew that tomorrow was her off day. Her coworker would manage the bakery. He looked back at the video feed. Shepard should be home soon, it was late. He just hoped that the batarian didn't show up. That would really put a crimp in his plans. 

His initial plan was to simply nab her in the middle of the night cycle. He had a couple of syringes with sedatives of different doses. From Garrus's info on her since her rebuild from the terrorist group, Cerberus, and her healing after the end of the Reaper war, he was unsure how strong a sedative he'd need. So he had three different strength ranges in case: one for normal humans, one for someone bigger, and one for someone like a krogan. He'd try the weaker first. Nihlus really had no intention of returning to the Citadel with a dead Shepard. Especially through his own fault. In the corner of the room was a container big enough to sit a human easily and some air holes so they could breathe. He feared a stasis pod would draw too much attention. He knew there would be less people around at this time, but as an added precaution, he set a small bomb in an abandoned location. He had the remote to active it. He hoped that would distract the Talons enough for him to make his getaway. 

Nihlus spent the next few minutes checking his equipment and making sure everything was ready. He had a sky car ready for him. As soon as he had Shepard, he'd have little time to safely and quietly get back to his ship and off Omega.

A beep alerted his attention back to the monitor. Shepard had just returned to her apartment. He made an annoyed sound in his subvocal. The damn batarian was with her again. Sadly, he would not be able to kill the guy. As much as he wanted to, it would upset Shepard. And she was goingn to be mad enough at him already. As well as Aria, making any future assignments difficult if he had to come back to Omega. Plus he would have to answer to Garrus about unnecessary killing. He knew he had maybe a few hours to figure out something. Nihlus wondered if there was a way to drug the batarian or maybe just tie him up and leave him in a closet.

Movement on the screen pulled Nihlus out of his thoughts. Shepard was sitting on the couch with a beer in her hand. He saw that Bray walk from the small kitchen area to the back of the couch standing behind her. He bent down, saying something in her ear. Nihlus could not hear what was said but whatever it was, she seemed to like it. She allowed Bray to take the beer out of her hand and place in on the small end table next to the couch. 

He knew he should look away and give them their privacy but Nihlus found he could not not. Especially when Bray leaned down more and grabbed her shirt pulling it over her head and tossing it aside. From the camera angle he could see the front of Shepard now only in a pair of pants and that strange chest contraption humans and sometimes asari wore. Didn't they call it a bra? Whatever it was called he rather enjoyed how it make her breasts look. Nihlus felt his mouth go dry when Bray reached down under the material to fondle her breast. He heard her gasp, and saw her arching her back, pushing her breasts into his hands. She threw her head back exposing her neck to the batarian behind her. The sight of Bray licking down her throat and freeing her breasts out of their cloth confines had Nihlus easily coming out from his plates. Necks were a sensitive area for turians. He wondered for a moment wondering how it'd feel with her licking down his throat. Bray said something to her again, still too low for him to hear. 

Nihlus didn't have to wait to figure what was said. As Bray moved his attention back to her throat and his hands still fondling and caressing her breasts, sometimes plucking at her now perky nipples, Shepard moved her hand down to her pants. She easily unfastened them and dipped her in hand underneath. He had no doubt of what she was doing as her hand moved down to her crotch underneath the pants. 

Spirits! Shepard's hips started moving as she pleasured herself. Nihlus could feel his cock getting harder and straining against the pants he wore. He had yet to put his armor on which at the moment was a good thing. He was able to easily open the fastenings freeing his now throbbing erection. Nihlus started stroking himself hoping to alleviate some of the pressure. The sight of Shepard writhing as she pleasured herself was making him only more hard.

Bray then stopped his fondling and straightened up. He tugged at her bra straps as he moved his hands away from her very pert breasts. Nihlus's subvocals gave a very loud disappointment noise when Shepard pulled her hand out from her pants. He stopped stroking his cock as he watched Bray move from behind the couch to stand in front of her. As Bray moved, Shepard had reached behind her, unfastening the bra and tossing it aside. Her upper body completely exposed to the room. Nihlus noticed Shepard seemed to know what was coming next. She straightened up, moved towards the edge of her seat, and spread her pant clad legs. Bray moved between those legs and knelt down. Nihlus resumed his stroking as Bray wrapped one arm around her waist pulling her closer to him. She then closed her eyes and started making mewling noises.

Nihlus could not see what the batarian was doing from his angle but he easily deduced that he had her breast in his mouth. Whether Bray was sucking or licking her tit he could only imagine. In his mind, he imagined it was him before Shepard, lapping at those nipples and giving her pleasure. Nihlus easily admitted that he was a boob turian. Female turians lacked breast and he had been with enough asari to know that he liked them. If able, he could spend hours giving a females breast lots and lots of attention. 

Bray moved his free hand and started tugging at her pants. He moved back, releasing the breast and her waist and started pulling down her pants. Shepard moved up helping him remove the last of her clothes. Pants tossed over his shoulder then her panties and Shepard was completely bare to Bray. Bray then pushed Shepard down on the couch, moving her so she laid stretched out on in it's length. Shepard let one leg hang off the edge, opening her pussy to him. 

Nihlus stopped doing light strokes on his cock. He gripped it when Bray moved his hand, cupping Shepard's more than likely wet pussy. Nihlus then started thrusting into his in earnest when Bray started pumping two fingers into Shepard. Shepard was now moaning out loud, no longer making those quiet mewing noises. Nihlus closed his eyes focusing on the sound as he pleasured himself. He started to imagine it was Shepard in front of him stroking his cock instead of his own hand. He started pumping faster at the thought. He knew he would be finding his release in no time. But then the noise stopped. Nihlus opened his eyes and looked at the screen to see what had silenced her. The batarian was in the process of removing his own clothes. The sight of the batarian's now free erection made Nihlus laugh a little. Compared to his own dick, the batarian came up short and thin. One of the many reasons turians were the better species compared to batarians. 

He watched as Bray moved on top of her. In one motion Bray pushed into her. Nihlus snorted when Shepard gave no real reaction to the batarian's dick now in her. Bray then started moving, thrusting into her. Nihlus started moving his own hand again when he heard Shepard's moans start back up. He closed his again as well, imagining that he was the one moving in her, causing her to make those sounds. Was she as soft as she looked. How would her warm pussy feel around his cock? After several moments, her moans started getting louder and her breathing harder. He wondered she was close to her release. Nihlus felt his own cock tighten at that. Fuck, he was so close. So close...

Nihlus yelled as he found his release. He stopped pumping and simply stroked the length of it to drag out his orgasm as well as calm down. Once his breathing returned to a normal rate he opened his eyes to look at the monitor. In his own release he never heard Bray who was about to find his. The batarian was now thrusting harder and faster and not even a minute later stopped as he found hie climaxed. But that's not what really drew his attention. 

Shepard had stopped her moaning and from the look on her face, she had not found any release. As soon as Bray recovered he said something to her and moved off, standing up. Bray walked off towards the bathroom. Nihlus watched in curiousity as Shepard, still laid on the couch watching after the now satisfied batarian. As soon as the bathroom door closed she moved her hand back down to her crotch. 

Nihlus's curiosity quickly turned into fascination as he watched Shepard move her hand. He had heard human females had some sort of bundle of nerves down there. He believed it was called a clit. He had heard several humans time talk about it before. It seemed that's how most human females were able to orgasm. He watched in apt attention as she stroked that pleasure button, another fun name he had heard it called. Within moments Shepard was biting her lips, trying to muffle her yells as she found her own climax. 

He gave a snort and a disgusted noise escaped his subvocal. Pitiful. What sort of fool would leave their sexual partner unsatisfied? Only to easily walk away for them to find their own release? Pathetic. Maybe getting Shepard away was for the best. Hell, most of the bastard's love making was predictable. Nihlus knew he could put the batarian's lovemaking skills to shame. Nothing was more exciting than having their partner aroused and full of anticipation. He could easily rock her world, as humans liked to say. And if she was willing, he'd happily show her. 

Nihlus knew he had crossed a line watching her again in an intimate setting. While he still respected her as a skilled soldier and strong survivor, he needed more now. Observing her this past week caught his attention in ways he's never had about a female before. And now seeing and hearing her in such a way....

Spirits, he was getting hard again. 

Nihlus stood up. He needed a cold shower and to get ready to go. He needed off this station and that damn batarian away from her.

***********************************************************************************************

Shepard was unsure what time it was or what had woken her up. Shortly after her fuck with Bray, she had cleaned herself up and went straight to bed, him following shortly after. 

A rustling noise from his side of the bed made her sit up. Bray was standing next to the bed, fastening his pants. He looked over at her when he realized she was awake. 

"Sorry. Something came up, Aria needs me back," he said, unprompted. Ray shook her head in understanding. It wasn't the first time that had happened. She laid back down, pulling the blanket around her.

"No problem. Let me know if you need anything," she yawned. She barely heard him leave as she tried to go back to sleep. Shepard hated being woken up in the night. It was always hard for her to fall back to sleep. And the Reaper War made it impossible for her to ever fall back asleep. Waking up in the middle of the night always equaled some problem or another.

She was close to falling back asleep when a pinging noise started. Muttering a few choice curse words she sat up again, opening her omni-tool. 

"Yeah? What's up?" She asked when she realized the caller was Niah, her assistant at the bakery. 

"Lucy? Oh Goddess. You need to get here now!" Niah cried. Shepard quickly woke up all the way when she realized how frantic the asari was. 

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Lucy. But the bakery...the bakery, it's gone! Someone set it on fire!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun! Wonder what happens next.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Nihlus is alive. It'll be explained soon how he survived


End file.
